Shawn's Basement Pool Plans (2 of 2)

How she planned a stylish, functional basement pool for year-round therapy.

In our previous post, Shawn discussed the hip ailment that forced her to quit running and start swimming. In this post, we look at the planning process behind the Endless Pools® Performance model in her basement.

"We wanted the finished product to look like it belonged here," says Shawn of the state-of-the-art Performance pool that she and her wife, Melissa, were adding to their Vermont farmhouse. "We wanted it to look rustic, but elegant and classy and beautiful, like it had been part of the plan of the house that was originally designed and built."

If that order isn't tall enough, Shawn adds, "And we wanted it to be cost-effective."

Choosing the Materials

After choosing a basement pool installation, Shawn and Melissa "spent a lot of time talking about materials." They wanted the finished pool "to be cost effective and also make it look like it belonged there."

They smartly chose to repurpose planks of black locust wood "left when another barn had been built. They’d been in storage undercover, but over the years, wind and rain had weathered these boards." Black locust wood is noted for its natural rot-resistance, anti-fungal properties, and most importantly, water-resistance.

To protect the surrounding walls, many people choose ceramic tile as they would for most any wet area. The women instead chose galvanized steel roofing material to echo a nearby window well. "Then we painted the ceiling with waterproof paint."

If They Could Change Just One Thing…

Shawn remains "so grateful to have had the resources" for their Endless Pools installation. She also appreciates the pool's low-maintenance systems. "It’s really quite easy to make the water clean and clear," she finds. "It’s not time consuming. A little goes a long way."

If she could do it all over again, there's only one thing she'd change.

They locally sourced the coping, which is the perimeter shelf at the top of the pool. On one end, it had to be "extra wide, so it’s very comfortable to sit and swing your legs around into the water." Unfortunately, "the coping cost us a ridiculous amount of money. That was a mistake. Everything else we did for material selection was good."

"I wish we had put that money into the automatic cover." The Automatic Retractable Security Cover is an Endless Pools option that lets you secure your pool with the turn of a key. Shawn opted for the Manual Cover instead. Now she says, "Budgeting in a way that would allow the automatic cover as opposed the manual is a smart way to spend money."

The Big Picture

Of course, their Endless Pools setup is primarily for health reasons, not aesthetics. Shawn doesn't forget that.

"There are days when I’m exhausted and I really don’t want to go swim," she admits. "But I’ll make myself go do it. And then you’re in it, and you’re like, ‘How can I not want to be in this every day for, like, 10 hours?’

"We really love the way the pool looks. It’s warm, it’s inviting. We love looking at it, and we love being in it."